Process of decortication



g- 1935. A. T. RATLIFF 77 PROCESS OF DECORTICATION Filed on. 27, 1954Inventor 1/4591? ZJ'Zaiil'ij gmwm A ttomey Patented Aug. 13, 1935 UNITEDSTATES PATENT OFFICE PROCESS OF DECORTICATION Refiled for abandonedapplication Serial No. 393,289, September 17, 1928. This applicationOctober 27, 1934, Serial No. 750,358

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a process of decorti cation and moreparticularly to a process of this nature which has for its object theexpeditious removal of the outer coating or hard surface from pineneedles for the purpose of recovering the inner fiber thereof, but it isto be understood that this process maybe utilized for any purpose forwhich it is found adapted.

The nature of the process will become apparent from a study of thefollowing specification, taken in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, wherein there is disclosed an embodiment of an apparatus forcarrying out the successive steps of the process, but it is to beunderstood that any suitable mechanism may be employed for this purpose.

In said drawing,

Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a receptacle into which theneedles are placed for the purpose of carrying out the first step of theprocess.

Figure 2 is a longitudinal sectional view of the apparatus for carryingout the second step of the process.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of a device for performing the third stepof the decortication process.

The process constituting this invention is as follows:

The pine needles, or pine straw as the same are sometimes called, areplaced, in a green or dry state, in a cooking vat I having a burner 2thereunder and which vat contains a solution of water and caustic soda.After a suflicient lapse of time, the solution in the vat I softens ordissolves the hard outer coating or cortex and saponifies thehydro-carbons or wood tars which are present in this outer coating.

The needles are then placed in a hopper 3 and passed downwardlytherefrom between a pair of opposed crushing rolls 4 having interfittingcorrugations on their working faces for crushing and breaking up theneedles as the same pass therebetween. The crushed needles are thenplaced between a pair of oppositely rotating coaxial discs in thepresence of water and the scrubbing action resulting therefrom removesthe outer orhard covering from said needles and the inner fiber thereofmay be reclaimed in a clean commercial condition.

For carrying out this third and last step of this process, an endlessconveyor may be positioned beneath the crushing rollers 4 for thepurpose of receiving the needles as they are discharged therefrom andsaid conveyor is designated by the reference character 5 and has itsdischarge end disposed over a downwardly inclined chute 6 having apivotally mounted gate 1 at its lower end. Disposed beneath thedischarge end of the chute 6 are a pair of opposed discs 8 and 9 whichare disposed within a tank or receptacle I!) which is adapted to containwater. The disc 9 is fixed on a shaft which is journaled through thebottom ll of the tank I!) and said shaft has fixed on its lower endportion a pulley l2 for connection with a suitable source of power. Thedisc 8 is mounted for rotary and vertical movement in the free end of ahorizontally swingable bracket 13 through the medium of a'threadedvertical shaft M which is disposed for longitudinal movement through asleeve [5 rotatably mounted in the free end of the bracket l3 and havinga drive pulley l6 thereon. A hand actuated wheel I! is threaded on theupper end portion of the shaft l4 and engages with the upper end of thesleeve l5 for raising the disc 8 vertically. The bracket I3 is pivotallyconnected to a suitable support as at [8. As before stated, the discs 8and 9 are rotated in opposite directions through the medium of thepulleys l2 and l6'which are connected to a suitable source of power. Inthe use of the apparatus described above, the hand wheel I! is actuatedin a manner to lift the disc 8 off of the disc 9 and said disc Bis thenswung horizontally away from the lower disc on the bracket I 3. The gate1 is then opened and a suitable quantity of needles are precipitated onthe lower disc 9 from the chute 6 after which the gate is closed and thedisc 8 is swung back over the disc 9 and lowered into engagement withthe needles between the discs.

Having thus described my process of decortication, what I claim is:-

A process of decortication for pine needles comprising cooking theneedles in a bath solution of Water and caustic soda until the cortex ofwood tars in the cortex are saponified, then removing the needles fromthe bath and crushing and breaking same between corrugated pressurerolls, then placing the needles between opposed, oppositely rotatingdiscs and subjecting said needles to a scrubbing action in the presenceof water until the dissolved cortex is removed, and then recovering theinner fiber of the needles from the water bath.

ALBERT TAYLOR RATLIF'F.

